Recently there's been an extended discussion on e-sangha that began with the question of how an enlightened being would deal with being raped, and went off in all directions from there. One strong theme has been the illusory nature of reality.
The only account I know of of rape in the life of an enlightened being occurs in the biography of Yeshe Tsogyal, Guru Rinpoche's consort. The story is told of her rape which resulted in great spiritual growth for her attackers - and no harm to her - a rather astonishing reversal. It made a great impression on me many years ago when I first read it - it made no sense, and seemed almost like a rather sick vision to which no woman would give any credence. But eventually I came to a different conclusion - namely that the whole dynamic of the event hinged upon whose reality was stronger. Yeshe Tsogyal was the enlightened one - her reality was unassailable - so rather than being changed by her rapists into an element in their reality - namely their victim - she had the power to open them to her reality - enlightenment.
This was a strong hint about the fluid quality of reality and for a long time after that, I framed much of my rumination on things Buddhist as dueling realities. One belief system perceived (and projected) one reality structure, while another invested its energy in something different - and additionally there was the 'default' view of one's culture. For me that meant rationalist and materialist.
But coming on this unexpected fluidity in what I had considered concrete reality was a wonderful surprise. At that time I still held consciously to what I thought was the Buddhist party line, namely that exterior phenomena were somehow illusory. Meanwhile, unconsciously I believed that exterior reality was immutable and the reality. Seeing this fluidity changed both views, and got me out of the conflict between them.
This particular dynamic in Buddhism can be looked at in terms of pure view - a topic which I come back to again and again.
